Photo Friday: DIY Milk Bottle Props

Raise your hand if you, too, could easily go broke buying pretty things to use for food styling or as photography props for your blog?

Don’t be shy.

It’s an expense that can easily get out of control… and probably land me in divorce court pretty quickly. We mostly take the second-hand route, but when you have a specific item that you’re looking for, you might get stuck looking for a long time. You’ve got a couple of choices: shell out the cash, make your own [fill-in-the-blank], or keep waiting.

Take these cute little milk bottles, for instance.

I’ve been hoping to get lucky and just stumble on a couple at my favorite Goodwill (my teenage self just died) but no one seems to have, or be parting with, cute little milk bottles. I know I could purchase them online, but shipping costs for just a couple of bottles or having to buy them in large volume has kept them planted them firmly in the “I’ll just wait” category.

I used the alcohol and cotton balls to remove the screen printed date/lot number from the bottles. You’ll need to put some pressure behind it and scrub pretty hard for ~10-15 seconds or so.

And then maybe 5 seconds more.

Remove the labels and spray Goo Gone onto the sticky gunk left behind (or dab it on with a paper towel if your bottle isn’t the spray bottle variety… we, um, go through a lot of Goo Gone). Scrub the adhesive off and wash the bottles with soap and warm water to remove the Goo Gone.

Cute picture! I haven’t even thought about using them for drinking milk, but I have used them for gifts and such. Just thought I’d tell you…when I cleaned mine, I only used soap and water and a little scrubby brush. I just peeled the label off under hot running water, then used my scrub brush (the flat kind with the abrasive pad on it) and cleaned off the rest of the goo. And the numbers came off in seconds with very little effort by doing the same thing. Didn’t need anything besides good old soap and water and mine were sparkling clean! That might be a little quicker than the alcohol and goo gone!

I did this last fall… got a $4 off coupon for the 12 pack at Costco, so it was $10 for 12 bottles. I was able to remove the date stamp with just a light rub of the Goo Gone, though. I made them for my sister’s Milkaholic themed baby shower, then decided I didn’t want to pack them in my suitcase, so didn’t use them, except for a couple of food photos for the blog. Now, they are in storage until we buy our new house this year and move again! Wishing I had left at least a couple out!

(Another tip I got from a neighbor recently, and what I’m doing right now: Buying/saving/cleaning out Blackburn preserves jars for drink glasses. They are mason jars with a handle on them! Super cute!)

I used these for my daughter’s 2nd birthday party last year. Thank you Costco for selling them by the case! I used a magic eraser to get the date stamp and whatever sticky residue was left after soaking them in hot soapy and peeling the stickers off. They worked like a charm!